Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Valentine's Day Submission
by Deags
Summary: Sly has just infiltrated into Le Paradox's time machine blimp, the scene is from the point of capture by Le Paradox, in the time capsule, where Sly is together with Carmelita. This is for those who wanted some closure between the conflict between the two of them throughout the game, all the while Sly's ancestors wreak havoc all over Le Paradox's blimp.


**A/N & Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any of the characters that are affiliated with _Sucker Punch Productions (2002-05)_, _Nihilistic Software (2011)_, and/or _Sanzaru Games (2012-Present)_. I do however, own their products and highly recommend to those who don't, to please support the creators of the franchise. The portrayal of their characters in this fan fiction is just that, of fiction; they do not in any way reflect the "actual-true fictional storyline" created by the *stated above* developers of the Sly Cooper franchise.

Greetings this is Deags, and I am posting up this extremely late Valentine's Day piece as it's a tribute to a friend of mine, a fellow author on this website: "ForeverFreelancer". She always chooses to poke fun at my inability to write sappy and romance fluff. Which I respond with: "well, duh…" To prove that either myself or her wrong, (most likely me…) I have accepted her non-issued challenge and have decided to give it a go. I even allowed her to pick the venue and the scenario in which she wanted to read about.

***spoiler alert*** this short story will take place during the final mission of _Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time_, where Sly has just snuck into Le Paradox's time machine blimp. The scene in which I'll be writing about is the point of capture by Le paradox, in the time capsule, where Sly is together with Carmelita. ForeverFreelancer came up with the idea that she would like a kind of "closure" between the two of them while Sly's ancestors wreaked havoc all over Le Paradox's blimp to try and reach Sly. She felt that, with the two of them finally alone (in a way), they could work out their differences and hopefully by the conclusion when they part ways, they've made up. It's… it's not much to go on I'll have to admit, and I don't really see how there can be a sweet V-day event that occurs at this serious time… but I'll give it a go.

Well now that you all know the setup, the reason, the whole: "who, what, when, where, and why" of the situation…I don't know what else to say… except "sorry" to all fluff readers as this will be quite, well, horrible. Enjoy?

**Dishonored: Honor for All**

Grunts and the sounds of effort echoed through the utility shaft. The Raccoon continued to make his way up the service ladder until he reached the hatch. With great effort, he pushed upwards to open it. He panned his head around to get a look at the interior of Le Paradox's blimp. There was nothing but darkness, the only thing he could see was a small beam of light shining down from an unknown source, and in the middle of it, was Carmelita who was bounded by ropes. Sly climbed up and out of the hatch, and slammed it shut behind him. He turned to face Carmelita, putting his left hand to his ear as he did so, and checked-in.

"Okay Bentley, I'm in. I can see Carmelita."

"Just hold on Sly! We're almost there!" The turtle replied. "You know it's a set up!

"I know, pal. But I don't have a choice. Just get here as fast as you can."

Before Bentley could offer anymore words of protest, Sly turned off his com-link, and skulked towards Carmelita. When he was only a few feet away, his heart began to race, and soon his feet did too. He ran towards her and slid on his knees. He grabbed her by the shoulders and she looked up at him.

"Carmelita!"

"Sly, no!"

But it was too late. A heavy metallic and glass chamber fell on top of them the sounds of the internal workings of electronic locks _whirred_ followed with a _click_. Both Sly and Carmelita knew that they were sealed in. The insides of the blimp lit up, brighter than time square, nearly blinding the duo. A boisterous and evil laugh could be heard coming from above them, as a giant upside down robotic crab platform dropped from the ceiling.

"Haha!" A giant metal claw grabs the bottom of the glass chamber, lifting it up. "Two rats in one trap! I knew you could not resist, Cooper. You are so _predictable._"

Sly untied Carmelita and glared at the Le Paradox, "Oh yeah? Well, how's this for a prediction: 'I'm going to kick that stripe right off your tail!'"

Le Paradox started shaking his hands mockingly, as if he had suddenly succumbed to fear, "Yes, yes, and now come the big threats from the little man. As I said, predictable."

Carmelita stomped her foot, and roared at the skunk, much to the delight of Sly, "Let us out! You afraid of a fair fight, coward?"

Le Paradox picked a hair off of his green shirt with his gloved hand, and flicked it away. He was in total control. Idle threats made by two soon to be dead rodents meant nothing to him, and his demeanor showed it.

"No no no. I don't think so. I have something special planned for you two. It is, how do you say? A going away party!"

Le Paradox pulled a few levers and hit a number of buttons, the floating crab platform _hissed_ and _whirled_ as it rose higher off the ground, turned one-eighty, and with the two of them in hand, flew off deeper into the bowels of the blimp.

The sound of wheels squeaks to a halt, as Bentley watches his friend get carried off.

"Okay, listen up! You all know why you're here. We have to find your canes and get you back where you belong, now! If we don't, we'll never be able to repair the damage that Le Paradox has done!"

"What about Sly?" cried out the Magenta hippo.

"He's on his own for now, Murray. But I'm sure he'll be fine. It's sly!"

Murray nodded in silence, and looked up at the corridor that his best friend went through against his will.

* * *

With a mighty shout, Sly bashes his cane over and over again at the glass that stood before him. The sound of his efforts as his metal cane made contact with the thick glass echoed painfully in the capsule. But still he wouldn't relent, not until Carmelita was safe. With one more mighty roar, he swung hard at the glass that would have made any major league baseball player green with envy; the resulting impact knocked him off his feet. The cane dropping out of his grip.

He was out of breath as he laid there. His breath was shallow, his chest rising and deflating as he gasped for air. But he soon sat up, and got on one knee. With the look of unyielding resolve on his face, he grabbed his cane, only to realize he could not lift it up. He looked over and it was Carmelita holding on to his hand.

"Sly, just stop."

Sly looked at her, but as if she spoke a different language, made efforts to stand up again to ready his next swing. However, he was pulled down yet again, and returned his gaze at Carmelita.

"Sly, stop. Please. Your hand, it's bleeding."

Sly looked down at his left hand, droplets of red started dripping out from the bottom of his glove.

"I'm fine Carmelita, don't worry. The main thing now, is to get you out of here. I promise that I'll protect you." He used his good hand to caress her face.

Carmelita took hold of it in her hands and noticed that his was shaking uncontrollably. She kissed it gently and whispered, "I know you will ringtail."

"Just to let you know, this wasn't what I had planned for our Valentine's Day."

Carmelita looked at him in surprise, "What?"

"Yeah, you know. Valentine's Day. Today is the fourteenth."

"I know what day it is… I'm just… what makes you bring that up now?"

Sly reached into his trusty bag that he always secures to his leg, and he took out from it, a single long stemmed lavender rose.

"…!"

"It's one of the rarest and most stunning rose colors. I can't even begin to tell you how long it took for me to find one."

Carmelita held the delicate flower in her hand; she closed her eyes and inhaled its fragrant smell.

"Sly, I love it."

"I want to make sure I get this right…" Sly cleared his throat, "Those who have been overcome by feelings of love and adoration have used lavender roses to express their romantic feelings and intentions. It's to signify: "enchantment", "majestic", and "love at first sight." He ended his regurgitation of what he had memorized from the "flower facts!" card, with his trademark smirk.

He then took the rose out of her hands, snaps off three-fourth of the stem, and carefully places the rose in her hair. A perfect metaphor: a flower for a flower.

"I love you Carmelita."

Slightly taken aback, Carmelita's voice was caught in her throat. She regained her senses, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Sly, I lo—"

"Carmelita…"

She opens her eyes in response, and looks deep into his eyes, "What is it Sly?"

"I…I know it's late, but I just have to let you know. I'm sorry."

Unsure of what he meant, she cocked her head slightly, "Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for all of _this_, this entire mess. I didn't have time to say it with us gallivanting through time, but I'm sor—"

Carmelita put a finger on his lips, "I'm not. I mean, it's not the best situation that you have gotten us in, but I wouldn't have changed a thing."

"Really?" Sly asked behind pursed lips.

"Well, the whole lying to me about amnesia thing I could have done without…" Carmelita glowered.

"Heh, I'm sorry?" Sly playfully grinned.

"You better be." Carmelita sultry voice rasped and she brought her face closer to his. They both closed their eyes and inched closer.

"Well I hate to interrupt, but how do you say? We're here _Mon Amis._" The French skunk interjects. "Do not worry however; you will soon have all the time in the world to make with the kissy faces."

Both Sly and Carmelita stood, separate from each other's embrace, and locked eyes with the criminal mastermind.

"Ah, alone at last! How cozy!"

"You want cozy? I'm going to throw you and all your friends into the same prison cell!" Carmelita shouted.

"Ah, but no! It is the two of you of whom I am thinking. To be together. Forever. Just think of it as the most romantic coffin ever! Hahaha!"

"Don't count on it, Le Paradox! We've beaten all your other plans!"

"Ah, but not this time, I think! Look at this, my marvelous contraption – the time tunnel. Something else I had your little friend Penelope develop… before her unfortunate failure. It's very much like the time machine, no? With one important difference: from here, I have the control over where you go. And it's programmed to send you and your Interpol shrew on an endless honeymoon. Free of charge! Bouncing through time for all eternity. That's if you survive the trip. But either way I will never have to see your irritating faces again!"

"You think this thing can hold me?! Just wait until I get out of here!"

The sounds of explosions emanate from somewhere within and reverberates throughout the blimp.

"What is this?" Le Paradox roared. He hit a number of buttons on his panel and on his main viewing screen; it showed a turtle, a hippo, and a number of raccoons wreaking havoc inside his time machine. "Coopers!"

"Slyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! We're here for you buddy!"

Carmelita and Sly exchange knowing glances.

"You're through Le Paradox! My ancestors and my gang are here to thwart you. Might as well give up now while you still have the chance!"

Anger washed over Le Paradox. _No! Coopers have shamed me and my family for the last time! I. Will. Have. My revenge!_

Le Paradox had a sudden epiphany, and he looked up at his two captives. A cruel smile danced across his face.

"Oh well, honor for all, of the big and the small. The taller they stand? Well, the harder they fall… they're too late to save you Cooper. You _and_ your shrew!"

"We live for today but we die for the next, as long as there is blood in our veins and the air in our chest. We step into war with our hearts on the line, dirt on our boots, it shakes free over time… we're not going to give up just because the odds are stacked against us, we will beat you Le Paradox, you will regret you messed with us."

This incited laughter from the skunk, "The music, it fades, the violence slows, the darkness, it rises, as the sun goes… you have no more light, just give up! Bow down now Cooper! You never had a chance in this fight."

Sly looked over at Carmelita and grasped her hand, "Love is a distant aroma at best, a withering smile that's stuck deep in your vest. The night air it wraps its fingers around. Your body, it shakes from the new distant sound… the sound of her voice – a sweet symphony, played over and over until you are free." Sly turned to face Le Paradox, with a look that said everything he needed: _She is the reason why I will continue to fight; she's the one that set me free._

Le Paradox bellowed and shook the capsule violently with the claw, "Why do you still resist Cooper? Even if they were to destroy _this_, everything that I've worked so hard to create, all of it, right here and now. When I rebuilt myself, I swore I would erase the Cooper name from history! So even if I lose everything today… today, my revenge will be complete! Bon voyage!"

Le Paradox pressed another sequence of buttons and the time tunnel begins to power up.

"Sly…?!"

The sound of a gunshot echoed in from behind them. The capsule shatters and both Carmelita and Sly fall briefly to the ground.

"Cooper you filthy vermin!"

"Hoo-wee! Cut that closer than a ten dollar shave!" A southern twang spoke out, as Tennessee Kid Cooper swaggers in. His entire body begins to glow, and he turns to his new two new amigos and tips his hat. "Reckon my time here is up." And _poof_, TKC vanishes in a flash of light.

"Take care, Tennessee!" Bentley waved.

"I will crush you!" Le Paradox screams, he presses a button to use his claw to swipe at Cooper, however with poor control and trajectory, his mechanical claw strikes his time tunnel, destroying its stabilizers, and it begins violently sucking everything in with its gravitation field. "Nooooooooo!"

Sly and Carmelita acrobat their way to Bentley and Murray.

"Take Carmelita and get off this thing!"

"We all need to leave right now! That maniac just tore a hole in timespace!"

"I need to finish this fight here and now. For the whole Cooper clan! And I'm the only one who can glide out of here."

"This whole blimp could disappear any second!" Bentley continued to protest.

"Right, so there's no time to argue! Just go." Sly pleaded.

Carmelita grabbed Sly by the shoulder, "Sly…I…"

Sly looked at her with loving eyes, "I know. Me too." Their eyes locked for a brief moment, before Carmelita followed by Bentley and Murray out of the main cockpit.

The metallic floors beneath them started to warp and tear. Sly watched for a second longer before refocusing on the task at hand. He turned to face Le Paradox, twirled his cane in his good hand and hopped on one of the sheared off pieces and flew towards Le Paradox. He had to stop Le Paradox here, and now. For his ancestors, his friends, and most importantly for Carmelita.

"Let's end this Le Paradox!" Sly shouted over the deafening vacuum of the time tunnel.

"Enjoy your words, Cooper. Because they will be your last!"

**A/N:** Well, there you have it. A _Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time_ Valentine's day story written by me, Deags. It's not sappy, nor is it filled to the brim with fluff, but given the situation I think I did just fine. However, it's not for me to judge, it's for you, the readers, to let me know what you think of this story. Again, this was specifically written for ForeverFreelancer, as a sort of "challenge" of sorts, whether or not I can or cannot write fluffy stories and chapters.

Be sure to leave in the comments what you thought of the story, whether you liked or hated it, and also to vote for whom won the contest: me, or FF. Take care everybody, and I will see _you!_ In my next update.


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